<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<guidanceItem id="1" title="Item A" type="guideline" Source="patterns &amp; practices" Topic="" Category="" Priority="" Status="" Author=";" Rule_Type="" Technology="" Date="6/12/2006" cssFile="guidance.css"  xmlns="urn:microsoft:guidanceexplorer:guidanceItem">
  <content>
  <![CDATA[
<H1 class=section> Test Cases</H1>
<P><STRONG>Title:</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>Does the title clearly state the action to take?</LI>
<LI>Does the title start with an action word (eg. Do something, Avoid something)?</LI> 
</UL>

<P><STRONG>Applies To:</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>Do you list technology and version? (e.g. ASP.NET 2.0)</LI>
</UL>

<P><STRONG>What to Do:</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>Do you state the action to take?</LI>
<LI>Do you avoid stating more than the action to take?</LI>
</UL>

<P><STRONG>Why:</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>Do you provide enough information for the user to make a decision?</LI>
<LI>Do you state the negative consequences of not following this guideline?</LI>
</UL>

<P><STRONG>When:</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>Do you state when the guideline is applicable?</LI>
<LI>Do you state when not to use this guideline?</LI>
</UL>

<P><STRONG>How:</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>Do you state enough information to take action?</LI>
<LI>Do you provide explicit steps that are repeatable?</LI>
</UL>

<P><STRONG>Problem Example:</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>Do you show a real world example of the problem from experience?</LI>
<LI>If there are variations of the problem, do you show the most common?</LI>
<LI>If this is an implementation guideline, do you show code?</LI>
</UL>

<P><STRONG>Solution Example:</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>Does the example show the resulting solution if the problem example is fixed?</LI>
<LI>If this is a design guideline is the example illustrated with images and text?</LI>
<LI>If this is an implementation guideline is the example in code?</LI>
</UL>

<P><STRONG>Additional Resources:</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>Are the links from trusted sites?</LI>
<LI>Are the links correct in context of the guideline?</LI>
</UL>
  
<P><STRONG>Related Items:</STRONG></P>
<UL>
<LI>Are the correct items linked in the context of the guideline?</LI>
</UL>


<H1>Additional Tests to Consider When Writing a Guideline</H1>
<UL>
<LI>Does the title clearly state the action to take?</LI>
<LI>Does the title start with an action word (eg. Do something, Avoid something)?</LI>
<LI>If the item is a MUST, meaning it is prevelant and high impact, is Priority = p1?</LI>
<LI>If the item is a SHOULD, meaning it has less impact or is only applicable in narrower circumstances, is Priority = p2?</LI>
<LI>If the item is a COULD, meaning it is nice to know about but isn't highly prevelant or impactful, is Priority = p3?</LI>
<LI>If this item will have cascading impact on application design, is Type = Design?</LI>
<LI>If this item should be followed just before deployment, is concerned with configuration details or runtime behavior, is Type = Deployment?</LI>
<LI>If this item is still in progress or not fully reviewed, is Status = Beta?</LI>
</UL>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
]]>
</content>
</guidanceItem>